What “Digital Wonderland” Means and Why It Matters for Your Life and Career
Technology, communications, and business are undergoing extensive transformations. The paradigm shift we witness in the Internet, telecommunications, and mobile technologies deeply influences the world around us. In this blog piece, I aim to provide a big picture of the new paradigm through the introduction of the concept of “Digital Wonderland”.
I define Digital Wonderland as an interactive, hyper‐connected, immersive, virtual, digital online ecosystem, or mega‐platform where we are living, learning, collaborating, communicating, creating, and sharing new things.
Digital Wonderland is the multilayered and organic Internet platform where we create and share knowledge (e.g. Wikipedia), innovate and collaborate together (e.g. InnoCentive), have fun and entertainment (e.g. TikTok), interact, network or connect with each other (e.g. LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter), design new products or buy and sell merchandise (e.g. eBay or Amazon), connect and communicate globally with mobile devices, write blogs, share their photos (e.g. Instagram), podcast their presentations or make creative films (e.g. YouTube), and express themselves to the world.
Digital wonderland is radically different from the world as we know it. Everything is super-accelerated and super-connected. The new generation internet and social media tools have fostered the growth and popularization of web‐based communities, social networking sites, and video sharing sites. These tools have made it possible for professionals from all over the world to collaborate, interact, and participate in the process of innovation and value creation.
We are at the beginning of the fourth industrial revolution. Developments in machine learning, robotics, nanotech, biotech, and 3D printing are all building on and amplifying one another. Technology is disruptive and it keeps transforming workplaces, business practices, and work processes.
In our everyday lives, we have all become mobile data users — sending e‐mails, sharing photos, downloading songs, and using social networking sites. Whole libraries and free MIT courses are now on the internet, as they make up the “global commons”. The semantic web (web 3.0) allows applications to “understand” sentences and natural language. Today’s teenagers (“the net generation”) are mobile data users and very active on social networking sites. Peer‐to‐peer networks have transformed the one‐to‐many model of communication to the many‐to‐many model where consumption and production are merged in a distributed economy of micro‐production systems and micro‐income streams.
“Massively multiplayer online games” or “alternate reality games” attract and support thousands of players simultaneously on the internet, where players interact, communicate, cooperate, and compete with each other on a grand scale. Avatars play, shop, communicate, entertain, travel, and interact with each other on immersive digital environments, highly visual 3D virtual worlds and metaverses. Factors such as virtual reality, augmented reality, 3D graphics, CAD software, graphics hardware acceleration, interactive user input, head-mounted displays, and realistic environmental effects like wind, seat vibration, and ambient lighting make users feel like they are part of the simulated “universe”.
Digital Wonderland Manifesto: How do we survive and thrive in this world?
As a result of all these innovations, we are living in one of the most interesting times in history. If you have a laptop, a cell phone, and an Internet connection, you can instantly become an entrepreneur and build your own company. Information is abundant and free. You have access to all the world’s knowledge at your fingertips. You can teach yourself anything that you want. You can master and teach any field. As you learn new things, you can share your passions, curiosities, and creations with the world. You do not need capital. You can use imagination to create your own creative assets and share them with the world. You can use your imagination to bring things that are fresh and exciting to the world. In this new world, your curiosity and imagination are the biggest tools and weapons.
We are living in the digital wonderland where attention matters the most. Attention is the new gold — it is the most critical, cherished, and sought after thing. We are witnessing a new gold rush on social media. Whoever captures attention rocks this new crazy world. This crazy world is ‘Digital Wonderland’.
In the Digital Wonderland, manufacturing curiosity, surprise, humanity, and virality has become one of the most strategic success factors for individuals and companies. Master storytellers will thrive and shine in Digital Wonderland. You need to tell your own stories, create your own personal brand, and connect with your own fans and tribe.
You might be wasting long hours in the Digital Wonderland. In fact, this is not waste at all. It is a blessing. You are following what is most interesting, wonderful, and refreshing for you. Time spent for learning, experimenting, playing, and exploring is never wasted.
We humans are not machines of productivity. We are organisms of curiosity.
We are not optimized for efficiency and productivity. We should leave these goals for artificial intelligence. Machines, robots, and algorithms will handle these.
The world needs your creativity, imagination, and curiosity. In the Digital Wonderland, you can create new worlds and universes. You can be a super-hero and amplify your unique strengths into super-powers. You can create your own adventures and games you wish to play. You can pursue pure-play and fantasy. You can cultivate a fierce and fearless imagination. You can express your quirkiness, weirdness, and originality. You can connect unlikely fields and domains. You can create your own brands, products, services, and even avatars. You can reclaim your childhood creativity.
Exremistan
The industrial revolution is over. Traditional education is dead. The career ladder is broken. We live in what Taylor Pearson calls ‘Extremistan’. The worst thing you can be in Extremistan is to be mediocre. You cannot be mediocre. Reinventing and disrupting yourself is the only way forward.
No professional today, whether in the public or private sector, can afford to be unaware of the pace of changes surrounding them. The pace of business change happening around us is relentless. The global forces of competition, innovation, and new technologies are creating new markets while eliminating others.
Multidimensional technological forces involving automation, 3D printing, augmented reality, machine learning, Industry 4.0, internet of things, and blockchain are rapidly transforming the future of work, organizations, and jobs.
Digital revolution turned each one of us to an entrepreneur and an artist
We are experiencing a digital revolution and the industrial paradigm is over. Mass production is becoming obsolete and 3D printers are replacing factories. Companies work in virtual networks and remote work is the order of the day. Products are bought on demand and they are customised by default.
A digital revolution has occurred where each individual is now an entrepreneur and an artist. We do not need huge scales of economy, organization charts, hierarchies, factories, standardized exams, or large production floors anymore. We do not need cable TV, mass-market, and broadcast advertising anymore. We are now experiencing a borderless, democratized, digital world where each individual can have a huge impact.
We live in a world where ideas can change people’s lives. This means all of us can create our own game. Indeed, creating your own game has never been so crucial. You can now design games, create our own blogs or podcasts or YouTube channel, or raise funds on Kickstarter. You can write a book and share your voice with the world. You can create your own lifestyle brands on wellness, health, productivity, or creativity. You can create fresh and exciting digital products (training, courses, experiences etc.). You can use crowdfunding to kickstart your ideas and projects. We live in a world where ideas can change people’s lives. This means all of us can create our own game.
Reinventing and disrupting ourselves is the only way forward.
It is impossible to imagine that the skills needed at work will remain the same in the new decade. The world is changing fast and we need to learn, re-invent and disrupt ourselves every day.
We need to be as open to learning, adaptation, and change. We need to re-invent ourselves every day.
When there are sudden tectonic shifts around us, we need to adapt fast. If we stop learning and being curious, it will be too late to react. When an exponential change happens, our time to react will be minimal. If we cannot adapt and learn, we might just fade into insignificance.
The career ladder is broken
Career transitions are much more frequent today. Jobs are less secure. The career ladder is gone.
Supporting organizational structures have disappeared. We need to manage uncertainty and change — more than ever.
We need to learn to feel more comfortable with constant change and uncertainty. It is like surfing (riding the waves) or dancing (improvising on the spot).
The world is changing so fast that knowledge and skills become obsolete very fast. In order to adapt to change, we need curiosity and lifetime learning.
“Self-development” is the order of the day. We need to constantly explore, read, learn new skills, and adapt to new situations.
The pace of change is often reflected in the demands of employers. Employers today want graduates who are flexible and adaptable — fast learners and experimenters. The ability to adapt and apply existing capabilities to new situations has become more crucial than ever.
We live in an age of experimentation and play.
In this day and age, we cannot hang on to the status quo and move on. We cannot continue business as usual. We need radically new solutions.
We need to look up to the future and imagine how the future will look like. Then, we need to situate ourselves within that future and work on strategically improving our position. This requires a lot of learning, experimentation, and investment in the self.
We need to see where we are going, make sense of how the outside world is changing, identifying new trends and challenges, and work on creating new opportunities and possibilities for ourselves.
The best startups go to where the future is. They innovate and create the future. They are the ones who disrupt before they are disrupted.
The moment that we stop learning is the moment we die.
Even if we are a winner, our current position is not sustainable. We do not have the luxury to stop. Change is exponential, so we need to catch the new waves.
Small is beautiful, so we need to compound our learning and creativity. If we invest in our learning and creativity every day, we will get amazing returns in the long term.
In a fast, complex, and uncertain world, one of the best assets you will have is your own creativity. Your imagination knows no boundaries and it is literally without any limits. So, we should use it more often. We need to use it to do something different and do better.
The world needs your creativity.
Creativity is just connecting things and we are all creative — we just need to reclaim it. Creativity is largely the ability to link ideas together. It is about building connections even when they are not visible. The capacity to see linkages that will generate us new opportunities and insights.
We need to iterate and build lots of ideas and solutions. Originality comes from thinking independently and creating a huge volume of ideas and work.
We also need to remember that creativity is involved in problem finding, not just problem-solving. So, we need to find problems that are really worth solving.
As human beings, we have managed to fly and even reach outer space. There is no way but to learn to fly. It is time for all of us to innovate.
We need to give ourselves challenges to get out of our comfort zones. These challenges might be entrepreneurial, artistic, professional, mental, emotional, spiritual, physical, or creative challenges. Look at the 65 fascinating challenges Richard Branson set himself for his 65th age.
Design your own challenges and adventures now. What will be your next adventures? Write them below.
Time for playing or exploring is not wasted time. We need to provide ourselves more opportunities for pure-play, exploration, and adventure. This means sometimes we will be wasting time and that is OK; as long as we keep learning and exploring.
Even if we have no idea on how to solve a problem, we can still figure out what to do and improvise. We may not know how to go forward, but we can always learn, figure out a strategy, iterate, develop, practice, and improve.
We need to take more risks — it is OK to look stupid and try out new things. Change is always frustrating and uncomfortable, but it is the only way forward. We need to treat every experience as a learning experience. Go out there and start again.
We need to embrace failure and not take ourselves so seriously.
Perhaps we will suck and that is fine — we need to stop taking ourselves so seriously. If we really want to get lucky in the long term, we need to provide ourselves more opportunities for failure. Failures are merely stopping points along the bigger journey. We need to celebrate your failures and use them as learning opportunities. We need to develop more grit and resilience to get back up after a failure.
We need to take a long-term view
Imagine your best future self after 10 years. Start acting like that person today. Act like the CEO of your own life. Where do you want to be in 10 years? Do not leave it to others to choose your destiny. Make a plan, and work toward it. Take a small action every day, consistently. You need to think and act long term and not give up on your dreams.
Even if the whole world is turning itself against on your ideas, you need to hang in there and be patient. J. K. Rowling was rejected by at least a dozen publishers before she was able to publish Harry Potter. Star Wars was rejected by many major studies until it became a household brand and franchise worth 70 billion dollars.
We need to remember that this is a marathon and we are playing the long game. We should not be discouraged by failures and rejections.
Imagination is the most critical success factor.
Imagination has become one of the most successful critical success factors for success and happiness in this age. We can use imagination to tap into rich worlds of possibility, to dream about our lives, to invent new things, to create new theories, and to share our stories with the world.
Imagination allows us to act like children, be foolish and curious, let it go, have fun, mess things up, get out of the rut, and invent new ways of thinking. These actions will increase our neuroplasticity, and enable us to come up with a constant stream of fresh ideas.
The fascinating thing about imagination is that it is unlimited. The more you use it, the more you will have it.
Imagination is the key to success since each plan starts with an image. This might be a vision, a dream, a possibility, or a mental picture of what you want to turn into reality. Imagination is your blueprint, your compass, and your map navigating the future.
Imagination allows us to communicate with our subconscious mind and create positive mental imagery. If we believe that our dreams can be realized, we will work harder towards making them happen.
Imagination is like a muscle and it can be strengthened through practical exercises and experiments we can easily apply in our daily lives.
How do we exercise our imagination regularly? We can give our brain puzzles, adventures, problems, questions, experiments, visualization exercises, and challenges every day.
What else? How can you make sure that you are thriving in the Digital Wonderland?
You can hunt for the most interesting stuff. You can spend time every day for learning new things that excite and surprise you. You can be a hunter and learner of most interesting things.
You can provide yourself more opportunities for pure play, exploration, and adventure. Similar to Bill Gates’ think weeks, schedule time in your calendar for learning and exploring new things. Time for playing or exploring is not wasted time.
You can be obsessive in following your passions and curiosities.
Invest in yourself and your learning every day. This is the biggest investment you can ever make.
Be an autodidact: A self-taught person individual who initiates and manages his/her own learning and reads voraciously. Assume responsibility for your own learning. Go out of your comfort zone. Learn outside your discipline. Think and act wider. Education as usual is dead. Long live lifetime learning!
Be a polymath: An individual whose knowledge spans a significant number of subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems. To be a polymath, expand your horizons and read books from diverse disciplines. Be greedy about your learning. Read widely and diversely beyond disciplines. Read at least 100 books every year (which means 2 books per week).
To solve wicked problems of the 21st century, you need to think beyond borders and disciplines. Cross boundaries — there are no borders. Play the long term game. Imagine that you are running a marathon.
Below is the new success equation:
Ask Right Questions + Follow Your Interests + Intense Curiosity + Continuous Learning + Imagination + Passion
You need to design multiple lives and multiple careers for your future. You are not cut out for just one job. Your imagination is without boundaries — why do you limit yourself to one job or one career? Think about where you will be after 10 years. Act according to that vision. You can be as big as your dreams and ambitions. So, dream big dreams, be specific in your vision, and capture your wishes and desires in your diary.
Try to master the mental models of different fields and use them to develop a holistic perspective and make better decisions in your life.
Live exponentially and compound yourself for the long term. When you are setting your goals, always leave an open room for X objectives(unknown goals). X objectives are goals that you cannot see right now. They will emerge as you navigate uncharted territories. How can you compound your skills and assets for the long term?
Design your life by surprise. Leave more room for flexibility, serendipity, exploration, and adventure. It is not easy to scare yourself and set yourself new challenges and adventures. In order to do this, you must get out of your comfort zone. You must set sail to new horizons and explore your own blue oceans. If you do this, you will be rewarded. You will be happier.
Forget the career ladder and start creating your own assets. Remember: Imagination and asset creation are linked very closely. Imagine and create your own game. It is never too late to follow your interests, curiosities, and passions. Show up for creative work and use random prompts or anchors to get going. Start small — small is beautiful.
You need to establish a system of creativity to create your own assets:
Consistent Small Actions + Smart Moves + Hard Work + Play Your Game
You need to astonish and amaze yourself every day. You can use improvisation to increase adventure and quality in your life. Try to apply automated writing, drawing, doodling, story-telling, ideating, designing, creating, dancing, and singing in your life.
Create your personal poster and manifesto. The world needs interesting, unique, weird people — like you! What kind of a super-hero are you? How will you help other people? Brainstorm ways to amplify your strengths.
Design yourself challenges to spice up your life:
This is a marathon and you are playing the long game. If you really want to get lucky in the long term, you need to provide yourself more opportunities for failure.
These strategies will enable you to develop creative solutions, experiments, and innovations for the challenges of Digital Wonderland.
This essay has attempted to outline the vision and strategies to create a truly creative life, ready to embrace this crazy world. This is the right time for us to boost our creativity and imagination for a happy life full of adventures.
Sincerely;
Fahri
